Europcar / fraudulent charges

I rented a car from Europcar at Heathrow when I was in UK recently for my mother's funeral. I had prepaid using a voucher from AutoEurope. The price was very reasonable (CAD$178 for seven days rental).

I returned the car and it was checked in by the Europcar agent who said everything was fine and there were no extra charges. However when I looked at my Visa statement on my return to Canada I discovered a charge of GBP496.92.
Apart from the usual surcharges hidden in the small print (Premium station surcharge etc.) and an exorbitant charge for fuel (which I knew they would charge) there was a a charge of GBP350 listed as "other surcharges".
Europcar (UK) did not respond to my e-mails but when I phoned them and spoke to an agent he informed me that it was for a scratch on the rear of the car. There was no scratch on the car - indeed the check-in agent had accepted the car as in perfect condition.
It seems to me that this is simply a scam - no doubt played upon overseas users who declined the collision damage waiver.
I am currently contesting the charge with Visa, but am not sure what they will be able to do about it.
Have other people been scammed in this outrageous way, I wonder?

Comments

I've rented twice from EuropCar and found charges of €276 and €146 on my Credit Card post rental. First instance was damage which they claimed was on the car on return. Not true. Second case was fuel. I had returned the car with 2/3 of a full tank but yet they claim to have squeezed 59 litres into that same 70 litre tank. They also falsely advertise on the rental counter that their fuel is significantly cheaper than local fuel prices which is not true as they list the local price inclusive of VAT but display their price ex VAT.